View Full Version : If an asteroid hits the Earth...
Electrofreak
2006-07-09, 12:47 AM
http://www.break.com/index/meteor_hits_earth.html
We're all fucked.
kurushio95
2006-07-09, 01:08 AM
too bad the odds of that actually happening are ininitely slim. even if a monstrous asteroid were hurtling towards earth, satellites and telescopes would pick that thing up in time for us to launch just about every nuke we have at it
Setari
2006-07-09, 01:11 AM
If we explode, we explode. Big deal. Something's gotta happen sometime.
Infernus
2006-07-09, 01:12 AM
I'm not too worried about the asteroids. I'm much more worried about the sickos that have the spare time to not only come up with doomsday theories but actually create fully detailed scenarios.
ALSO: I think some of that footage was stolen from the beginning of Titan A.E.
kurushio95
2006-07-09, 01:21 AM
wouldn't that rock if it was?
LimpBIT
2006-07-09, 01:37 AM
If we explode, we explode. Big deal. Something's gotta happen sometime.
yea thats basically the way I look at things
Electrofreak
2006-07-09, 01:54 AM
too bad the odds of that actually happening are ininitely slim. even if a monstrous asteroid were hurtling towards earth, satellites and telescopes would pick that thing up in time for us to launch just about every nuke we have at it
Sure it's slim, but it's possible. If it does happen, the problem is we don't have any nukes that can go far enough to actually divert an asteroid enough to miss the Earth, and if we DO hit it, it'll likely just knock a chip off the rock, break it into large fragments (doing even more widespread damage) and shower us with our own nuclear fallout.
Scientists propose that the only real way to divert an asteroid threat is to have a year or so forewarning. This is difficult in and of itself as judging the movement and intersection of distant objects in space requires a LOT of accuracy in calculating. The best we can do currently is make a list of possible threats, track them and try to refine our data until we have a high enough probability to take action. Scientists would then need to and deploy a specially designed space-faring nuclear warhead that can intercept the asteroid months before impact. The warhead would detonate to the side of the asteroid, perhaps moving it's trajectory a small fraction of a degree off-course, turning impact into a near-miss.
There really is no chance for a last-second defense. We need plenty of forwarning, and astronomers aren't able to track every potential doomsday rock in the solar system. I'm not saying you should be practicing curling up in a fetal position and whimpering, but on the off chance a rock does show up coming at us real fast, we're in for some trouble.
Mag-Mower
2006-07-09, 02:10 AM
I dont think that would happen... Ill post an explanation later, 2:15am is too early to discuss this sort of thing.
Kikinchikin
2006-07-09, 03:16 AM
Wait guys, why can't we just send up some guys and let them drill a hole in it?
kurushio95
2006-07-09, 04:23 AM
well, i don't know about you guys, but if there ever is a huge ass asteroid detected on a collision course with my high school, i just hope the proper authorities don't tell anyone about it and just let it happen, as there's nothing we can do about it at present
Baneblade
2006-07-09, 05:48 AM
You call yourselves PS fans?!
Asia is going to go to another galaxy, Africa is going to go to the other side of this one, Europe is going to get shit through a grinder and turn into a weird place full of odd physics laws that will magically not allow you to use M-240Gs or SAWs, North and South America are going to suddenly become very filled with invincible trees, antarctica will always be purple...until I come along with my Ti-83 and hack the mainframe.
LimpBIT
2006-07-09, 06:03 AM
You call yourselves PS fans?!
Asia is going to go to another galaxy, Africa is going to go to the other side of this one, Europe is going to get shit through a grinder and turn into a weird place full of odd physics laws that will magically not allow you to use M-240Gs or SAWs, North and South America are going to suddenly become very filled with invincible trees, antarctica will always be purple...until I come along with my Ti-83 and hack the mainframe.
that was very well thought out :rofl: :lol: :rofl: :lol:
Evilmp
2006-07-09, 08:36 AM
http://www.planetside-universe.com/forums/images/smilies/lol.gif
That video is cool, I've always wanted to see something like that.
Giovanni
2006-07-09, 09:01 AM
We'll be fine just as long as Bruce Willis breathes! Hopefully the old bastard lives for a LONG LONG time! :p
Setari
2006-07-09, 09:35 AM
By the time we have to send Bruce Willis and a bunch of crazies up to the asteroid, we'll have hopefully perfected trigger technology.
Infernus
2006-07-09, 10:30 AM
I say we build a large defensive ring around the moon, to shoot down all asteroids fired at Earth by arachnid plasma.
kurushio95
2006-07-09, 12:32 PM
ooo...can the weapons be shaped like gophers?i don't know why, but that would be kind of cool
BUGGER
2006-07-09, 05:24 PM
ALSO: I think some of that footage was stolen from the beginning of Titan A.E.
Yeah really.
That movie so kicks like Armegeddon's ass.
LimpBIT
2006-07-09, 06:35 PM
ooo...can the weapons be shaped like gophers?i don't know why, but that would be kind of cool
*smack*
KSoDBartman
2006-07-10, 08:25 PM
Hey, PSU, good to see you again! Where'd that politics section go? That place rocked!
Anyway, I think the film got some things wrong. The surface of Earth wouldn't just be on fire, it would melt if such a large object smashed into us.
Second, the object looked to be maybe a bit more than half the size of the Moon. Anything that big would be CLEARLY visible long before it hit us.
Third, objects of that size have long since been swept of the inner Solar System. The only danger represented to us by something that large is a wayward planetoid that has no parent star that happened to wander into our neighborhood and smash into us. Sure, it's possible, but I'd put money on Bush getting back his 90% popularity rating before I'd bet on this scenario.
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